03.04.2017

Sunbelt takes Pride

Sunbelt Rentals, the US arm of UK based Ashtead has acquired US rental company Pride Equipment for $279 million in cash.

Pride is a long established aerial lift rental company operating in New York City and surrounding areas. Its customer base includes clients in construction, industrial and movie production.
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The Pride fleet is predominantly JLG

Ashtead chief executive Geoff Drabble said: “This acquisition further enhances Sunbelt's position in the important New York City market. Pride's focus on aerial equipment is complementary to Sunbelt's capabilities in a broader range of smaller and medium size equipment and there will be significant opportunities to cross-sell to the enlarged customer base. This acquisition is consistent with our long-term strategy to take advantage of structural growth opportunities through both organic investment and bolt-on acquisitions. I would also like to welcome all of the Pride employees who will be joining Sunbelt as part of the acquisition and look forward to working with them to deliver on the major opportunities ahead."

Pride’s co-founders Charlie Noto, Senior and John Noto added: "We are proud of the company our entire team has built over the last 47 years, and grateful for the customers who have consistently entrusted us to meet their needs. Facing probably the most exciting growth in the company's history over the next few years, we felt it was time for Pride to align itself with a firm which has the resources and scale to allow the business to even better serve our customers' ever-expanding needs. We feel extremely confident that Pride will continue to flourish within the Sunbelt organization."

Vertikal Comment

This is a significant move even for Sunbelt/Ashtead – Pride began renting aerial lifts back in 1974 and was of the industry pioneers. It has a long association with JLG, its fleet is largely made up of JLG and Genie with Lull/JLG telehandlers and the company covers the Tri-State area.

This is a very good move for Ashtead and the owners in that is puts the company in good hands and gives Sunbelt a major boost, not only in the area, but also in the film industry. As far as the price paid it is hard to say if this is good value as Pride does not publish its accounts publicly. This aside it is a excellent bolt on acquisition.